καλῶς
kalōs · G2573 · Greek · 36 occurrences
Meanings
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good, fine, praiseworthy
Pertaining to a positive moral quality, with the implication of being favorably valued
ExamplesMatthew 12:12 “How much more valuable then is a person than a sheep! So then, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”
Luke 6:27 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
Acts 10:33 “So I sent men to you immediately, and you have been kind enough to come. Now then, we are all here present before God to hear everything that you have been commanded by the Lord.”
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fine, well, good, excellent, well done
Pertaining to events which measure up to their intended purpose
ExamplesMark 7:37 And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”
Mark 12:32 And the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that HE IS ONE, AND THERE IS NO OTHER BESIDES HIM;
Mark 16:18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
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accurate, correctly, right
Pertaining to being accurate and right, with a possible implication of being commendable
ExamplesMatthew 15:7 “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you, by saying:
Mark 7:6 But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
Mark 12:28 One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the foremost of all?”
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high, important, fine
Pertaining to having high status, with the possible implication of its attractiveness
ExamplesJames 2:3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”
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please
A marker of polite request
ExamplesJames 2:3 and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the bright clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,”
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certainly, very well
A positive degree (and even more emphatic in the comparative form κάλλιον) with an implication of correctness
ExamplesMark 7:9 He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.
1 Corinthians 14:17 For you are giving thanks well enough, but the other person is not edified.
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to be well, to be healthy
(An idiom, literally: to have well) The state of being healthy, well (in contrast with sickness)
ExamplesMark 16:18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
How it’s used In 1 role
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Second object ofSecond object
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- ἔπωto say 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
In the other Testament 2 words
- יָטַב yâṭab · H3190 · to tend, to adorn, to improve
- καλῶς (kalōs, G2573) is the Greek adverbial equivalent of יָטַב (yâṭab, H3190) when the Hebrew conveys moral or qualitative approval ('do well/rightly'); both express positive evaluation of action or state, with the Greek form standardized as an adverb where Hebrew uses the verb's infinitive absolute or other constructions for adverbial force.
- טוֹב ṭôwb · H2896 · good, nice, beautiful
- Greek adverbial form corresponding to Hebrew adjectival/nominal 'good'; both denote positive moral or qualitative evaluation, with καλῶς as the manner adverb ('well') and טוֹב as the attributive quality ('good').
Semantic domains 7 entries
- To be well, to be healthy23.129
- In Mark 16:18, of the signs that will accompany believers it is written, “they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover,” using this word for the state of being restored to health.
- Please33.177
- In Luke 6:26, Jesus warns, “Woe to you when all the people speak well of you; for their fathers used to treat the false prophets the same way,” using this word for words spoken to please or commend someone.
- Fine, well, good, excellent, well done65.23
- In Mark 7:37, the crowd, astonished at Jesus' healing of a deaf man, exclaims, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear,” using this word to commend an action as excellently done.
- Accurate, correctly, right72.12
- In John 4:17, the Samaritan woman having said she has no husband, Jesus replies, “You have correctly said, ‘I have no husband,’” using this word for something stated with accuracy.
- Certainly, very well78.21
- In James 2:19, James writes, “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder,” using this word with a somewhat ironic emphatic force, “certainly” or “very well.”
- High, important, fine87.25
- In James 2:3, of favoritism toward the wealthy it is written that such a person is told, “You sit here in a good place,” using this word for a place of high honor or standing.
- Good, fine, praiseworthy88.4
- In James 2:8, James writes, “if you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF,’ you are doing well,” using this word for an action that is morally good and praiseworthy.
Word family 5 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon (καλός), adverb (from Homer down), beautifully, finely, excellently, well: (universally,…
a. rightly, so that there shall be no room for blame: joined to verbs of speaking (ἀποκρινεσθια, λαλεῖν, λέγειν, προφητεύειν, etc.), well, truly, Mt 15:7; Mk 7:6; Lk 20:39; Jn 4:17; Jn 8:48; Jn 13:13; (Jn 18:23); Acts 28:25; fitly, i. e. agreeably to the facts and words of the case, Mk 12:28; καλῶς "Right! Well!" an expression of approval: Mk 12:32; Rom 11:20; of deeds: καλῶς ποιεῖν, to do well, act uprightly, Jas 2:19; 1 Cor 7:37f (where the teaching is, that one can do καλῶς, but another κρεῖσσον); καλῶς ποιεῖν with participle to do well that, etc. (Buttmann, § 144, 15 a.; Winer's Grammar, 345 (323)), Acts 10:33; Phm 4:14; 2 Pet 1:19; 3 Jn 1:6. (1 Macc. 12:18, 22; 2 Macc. 2:16, etc.); with verbs denoting a duty or office which one fulfils well: 1 Tim 3:4, 1 Tim 3:12; 1 Tim 5:17; specifically honestly, uprightly: Gal 4:17; ἀναστρέφεσθαι, Heb 13:18; ποιεῖν, Jas 2:8.
b. excellently, nobly, commendably: 1 Cor 14:17; Gal 5:7; καλῶς πάντα πεποίηκε, Mk 7:37; with bitter irony, Mk 7:9 (where cf. Fritzsche, p. 271f); 2 Cor 11:4.
c. honorably, in honor: Jas 2:3 (others give it here an outward reference, equivalent to in a good place, comfortably).
d. καλῶς εἰπεῖν τινα, to speak well of one, Lk 6:26; καλῶς ποιεῖν τινα, to do good to, benefit one, Mt 5:44 Rec.; τίνι (Winer's Grammar, § 32, 1 β.; Buttmann, 146 (128)), Lk 6:27; καλῶς ποιεῖν, simply, to do good: Mt 12:12.
e. καλῶς ἔχειν, to be well (of those recovering health): Mk 16:18.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 7 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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